Under the Mistletoe
by mooneyprongs
Summary: Hermione loves Christmas. She especially loves the gift buying aspect of it all. When she's running about Diagon Alley, she runs into none other than Draco Malfoy. Who just so happens to be buying gifts, too? But for who... Short, cute one-shot.


disclaimer : I do not own Harry Potter or anything from the wizarding world.

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><p>Christmas shopping was always one of Hermione's favorite things to do. Ever since the war ended three years ago, she found that buying gifts for the people she loved brought her comfort. Luckily, she had friends that didn't have a problem when she gave them gifts.<p>

She had learned quickly that the boys didn't want books or anything practical. They would be just fine with sweets and something for the broomsticks, which she didn't understand why they still bothered with them. When it came to the girls, Hermione always became a little bit stuck.

She knew that Ginny would appreciate anything she bought for her, but she always wanted to put a little more thought into it. Molly would probably love something homemade, so that meant that Hermione would be trying her hand at sewing this year. She would need to go to muggle London for that.

For now, she was in Diagon Alley. It was a bit crowded, but Hermione found that she didn't mind. There would be fewer stares if she could blend in with the crowd.

Hermione didn't know what shop to visit first, but settled on going into Broomstix. The shop was filled with wizards and witches of many ages trying to convince their parents that buying them a broomstick for Christmas would be the best investment they made. She couldn't help but laugh a little. Hermione could never see the point in broomsticks or Quidditch.

What would Harry want? She had already bought him another cleaning kit, but what possibly could he need? She walked over to the display of professional Quidditch outfits and picked out a Chudley Canons jersey for Ron. He probably had one already, but there was always room for spares. Plus, it was better than a book.

Just as she was walking past the children's section, the shop quieted down to whispers. At first, Hermione thought that they were for her, but when she looked up, she noticed everyone staring in the direction of the entrance. She followed their gazes to see who they were staring at and felt suddenly sympathetic.

If anyone was more famous than Hermione, Ron and Harry, it was Draco Malfoy. Sure, Hermione didn't like him much, but he and his mother had helped Harry tremendously during the war. She didn't like how people treated him like a villain.

He was scowling, but moved past the glaring figures around him to the section Hermione was now standing in. She wanted to leave before he saw her, but it was too late. "Granger."

She nodded in acknowledgement, hoping that it would be enough for him. It seemed to have worked, because he picked up a toy broomstick and walked away to pay for the item.

Hermione wondered what on earth Malfoy would need a toy broomstick for, but decided that she really didn't care and focused on what she should buy for Harry.

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><p>It was almost the end of the day and Hermione still hadn't finished shopping. She decided that the best thing for Harry would be new Quidditch shoes. His were awfully worn out and Ginny refused to buy him new ones. Her reasoning was that if Harry didn't have any shoes to wear while riding, than he'd be forced to stop and spend more time helping fix up the house.<p>

She figured that Harry had deserved them after dealing with countless chores. Hermione also bought Ginny's gift; which was a hilarious book called _How to Get Your Husband to do Everything You Want_. She also bought them all sweets that fizzle and pop in their mouths.

Hermione stopped at Rosa Lee Teabag to get some tea, since she had run out. She grabbed a few boxes of her favorites and went to the front to pay for them. Right when she was about to leave, Malfoy stepped into the shop.

The young witch working behind the counter frowned when she saw him and Hermione had to fight the urge to tell her that she was being unprofessional. It was strange and foreign to Hermione to want to defend Draco. "So, we meet again."

"Hello, Malfoy."

"Shopping for Christmas, I see. Who really needs that many boxes of tea?" He nodded towards the bag in her hand.

"They're for me. I ran out." Hermione held her bags closer to her so he couldn't see what else she bought. Not that it was anything personal. "Why did you buy the broomstick earlier?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Well as you know, my aunt has been taking care of my cousin's son. He should be three now and since she invited me over for Christmas dinner, I thought it'd be the polite thing to bring gifts."

"Andromeda invited you over?" Hermione was confused. She had just visited Andromeda last week and she hadn't mentioned anything about inviting Malfoy.

"She has invited me every year for the past three years, but this is the first time I'm actually going to be able to make it." She was still in some form of shock. This seemed like something she should have known. "Are you okay, Granger?"

"No, I mean, yes. I'm okay." Hermione regained her composure. "I'll see you at the dinner then."

She walked out of the shop, leaving a confused Malfoy behind. Hermione wasn't sure why he was making such an effort for a dinner it sounded like he didn't even want to attend. She'd have to talk to Andromeda about this.

It wasn't that Hermione doubted Andromeda's actions; she was just confused and wanted answers.

The two encounters with Malfoy today were short and left her confused. It had been years since she had seen him. Though they both worked for the Ministry, she never seemed to bump into him.

Hermione couldn't help but think about how different he looked. He was just a bit taller and he had filled out a bit so he wasn't completely scrawny. His hair was still pale blond and his complexion was just as pale, leaving his eyes to be the life of his face. Yet, they were dull grey and there were bags under his eyes that couldn't help but bother Hermione.

Why was it that she was left feeling pity for the man? He definitely didn't deserve anything from her and probably wouldn't want it.

This was absolutely frustrating.

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><p>It was now two days till Christmas and three days since she had last seen Malfoy. Hermione was a bit worried about herself and why she couldn't get him out of her mind. She reassured herself that it had nothing to do with any sort of attraction to him and all about seeing him at Andromeda's party.<p>

She had yet to tell Ron or Harry and she didn't know why she was keeping it from them. They wouldn't be too happy when they saw him there and found out that Hermione knew he would be there all along.

Hermione had spoken to Andromeda about running into Draco, but it seemed that she hadn't known he was planning on going after all. She couldn't help but feel bad that she had ruined Malfoy's surprise.

This was another thing that ended up bothering her. Why would Malfoy keep it a secret about going to the Christmas dinner? Hermione had been sure he was dreading it, but it seemed that he had put a lot of thought into the surprise.

She shook her head and decided that she should really stop worrying about it. Malfoy surely wouldn't be putting this much thought into what she was doing.

Hermione focused her attention on wrapping each of her gifts. She liked doing this the muggle way and had said many times that if she did it with magic, it would take the fun out of it. She put the sweets into little gift bags that had pictures of puppies in little Santa hats. She would have bought the ones with kittens, but she figured no one needed the Umbridge flashback.

When she was done, she put all of the gifts under the tree. Something didn't seem right, though. Hermione couldn't help but feel like she was missing one.

It suddenly hit her that she didn't have a gift for one guest. She didn't know if she should even get him a gift, but it did seem wrong to just show up without one for him when she bought one for everyone.

She was confusing herself even more when she asked herself why she would even want to get him anything. _Why had she even spent so much time thinking about him?_

Hermione got up, got her coat and decided that she would get him something small.

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><p>She found herself at a muggle shopping mall. Hermione figured that if she was going to get Malfoy something, she would at least make it something from the muggle world.<p>

She went into several shops, hoping that she would see something that Malfoy would like but came out empty handed. It wasn't until she went into a jeweler's shop that she saw a watch that looked like something Malfoy would wear. It was too expensive, though. Of course something for Malfoy would cost her an arm and a leg.

Hermione sighed in defeat and walked out of the shop. She would have to find something else, something meaningless and definitely cheaper than a watch.

Across from the jeweler was a music shop. Why hadn't Hermione thought about it before? She would get him something to listen to. She could get him The Beatles or The Rolling Stones or maybe something classical like Bach or Beethoven. She settled on buying him three classical CDs and a portable CD player.

Hermione felt a bit proud of herself after she left the store with Draco's gift. She knew that there was a chance that he would hate the gift or even laugh at her for trying, but she still felt great.

Now all she needed was wrapping paper for his gifts. She stopped at a gift wrapping shop and picked up a really nice, green wrapping paper. She was aware that she was making unnecessary effort and though it freaked her out, she couldn't help it.

How many people had actually taken time to give Malfoy a gift that wasn't just bought because it looked nice? Hermione doubted anyone really had cared that much. She really shouldn't care that much, but oh well.

When she got home, she wrapped up the present and put it under the tree. Finally, it looked perfect.

She settled down on her love seat with a cup of tea, turned on the telly and relaxed. She really deserved it.

* * *

><p>It was finally Christmas day and Hermione had a million places to be. First, she had breakfast with her parents. Her mum went above and beyond and Hermione ended up leaving with two apple pies. Then she had lunch with the Weasleys. It was quite loud and Ron made sure the two pies didn't go to waste. Hermione absolutely loved spending time with them.<p>

After a full day of pies and Christmas ham, Hermione was ready to migrate to Andromeda's with Harry and Ron. The rest of the Weasleys were going to meet them there after cleaning up.

She made sure she had Draco's gift in her coat's pocket and Apparated just outside the Tonks' household. The house looked cozy and welcoming. Soft lights with dancing shadows made the windows look like paintings and the fairy lights that surrounded the house made Hermione wish she was a child again so she could believe in Santa.

"Hermione, are you coming in?" Harry asked, standing in the doorway.

"Oh right, sorry. Kind of got awe struck." She laughed and followed Harry inside.

Ever since the war ended, Andromeda's house had been sort of a beacon for every Order member. Hermione thought it had a lot to do with Teddy, Tonks and Remus' son. It didn't surprise her that a lot of people would show up to her Christmas dinner, but it looked inviting either way.

Andromeda always liked to decorate her home for Christmas and she surely didn't disappoint this time. There were streamers, mistletoe and little trees scattered around the house, but it wasn't overwhelming. It was perfect.

Harry and Ron had gone to say hello to everyone, but Hermione kept looking for one person in particular. She walked out of the dining room and into the living room to see Andromeda watching Teddy on his broomstick. There was a little crowd around looking at the little boy, but three people were looking at the man helping the boy.

Hermione stared in awe, wondering when Draco had become the type of person to deal with children, let alone play with them. She couldn't help but smile a little when she saw the way Teddy looked up at his cousin.

Harry and Ron, on the other hand, were confused and rather angry. Harry felt like no one else should be that close to his godson, especially when that person was Malfoy. Ron just hated Malfoy and didn't want him near anyone he cared about.

Draco seemed oblivious to what was going on around him as he helped Teddy off the broomstick. "No! Again!"

The blond wizard laughed and picked him up, carrying him to his grandmother. "Your Grandma Meda said that you could only get on for a little while before dinner. Afterwards, you can ride again."

The blue haired boy nodded and relaxed his head into Draco's neck. This only seemed to upset Harry and Ron more. Hermione saw their glares and walked over to them. "Honestly, you two are being children."

"How could you say that? It's Malfoy we're looking at!" Ron furiously whispered, or tried to. He kept his glare on Malfoy until Hermione pushed the two out of the room.

"Andromeda invited him here, so for her sake, please be civil! You two know I would rather be as far away from Malfoy as possible, but we have to deal with it." She said sternly. Harry was about to say something, but Hermione shut him up. "You two are adults, now. It's time to act like it. Get over childish grudges."

"It's anything but a grudge." Ron muttered.

"It is a grudge and if I, of all people, can get over it for tonight than I think you two will have no problem doing so." She said and walked off, leaving Harry and Ron looking at each other, wondering what the bloody hell just happened.

Hermione found herself in the entryway of the home, standing across from Draco. She didn't know if he had been able to hear what she said, but she really hoped he didn't.

"Granger." If he had heard, he definitely didn't show it.

"Teddy seems to like you." She said, hoping to move the conversation out of the uncomfortable zone. "And your gift."

"Yeah, he's a cool kid." Hermione smiled a little, which threw Draco off. From what he had been able to hear in the hallway, Hermione hadn't wanted to even be in the same room as him.

"It was nice of you to play with him. Besides Harry, he really doesn't have male family members."

"Doesn't he have the Weasleys?" He was pretty sure that they would have a definite influence in the kid's life.

"Well, yes, but Ron is always working overseas, George has his shop, Bill is off with Fleur and Charlie doesn't even live in England. Plus, you're actually family. He'll grow up to respect that and respect you." Hermione didn't know when, but she had somehow gotten closer to Malfoy.

"I doubt it."

"You really shouldn't. From what I saw, you're pretty great with him." Malfoy smirked. Hermione had no idea why he was smirking, but she didn't know if she liked it or not. "Why are you making that face?"

He feigned shock. "What face?"

"This face." She tried to imitate his smirk.

"No, don't do that ever again." He couldn't help but laugh. Hermione beamed. This was the second civil conversation they had and she wasn't even sure that the first one at the tea shop counted.

"I won't, trust me." She said. Hermione remembered the gifts in her pocket and decided it was either now or never. "So, I may or may not have gotten you a gift."

Draco was confused. Why would Hermione Granger bother to get him anything? It didn't make any sense. "You did?"

She nodded and pulled out two packages. "Technically, it's multiple gifts and I'm not sure you'll like them. But, hey, it's something."

Hermione offered them to him and he carefully took them, not sure if it was a trick or not. When he examined the two wrapped gifts, he noticed they were carefully wrapped and in green. He smiled and undid the packaging. His smile turned to confusion as he held up three CDs and the CD player. "Not to be rude, but I'm genuinely confused as to what this is."

"Right, I figured as much. Those are CDs; they're classical music. The other box contains what you listen to them in. It's easy, I can show you." She moved closer to him and took the CD player out of his hands, popped in the batteries and connected the headphones. "Hold this."

He took back the CD player as she put the head phones over his ears. They didn't fail to notice just how close they were. Hermione pulled away and opened one of the CDs to put it in the CD player. "This isn't going to hurt or anything, right?"

"No, it shouldn't." She adjusted the volume and pressed play. She stood back to watch how he reacted to the music. At first, she was expecting him to flinch and to push the gifts back into her hands, but he didn't do that.

Instead, he closed his eyes and seemed to be enjoying the music. Hermione felt the sudden wave of pride wash over her and she couldn't help but smile. When the song was over, he pulled the headphones off. "That wasn't so bad."

"Well, I'm glad you liked it." She was still smiling and she didn't really care if he was uncomforted by it.

"Thank you." He stepped closer to her and at first, Hermione thought he was going to hug her, but instead he pulled out a little box. "But, you're not the only one who can give gifts."

"What?" Hermione knew why she had given him a gift, but she couldn't comprehend why he would return the gesture.

"I got a gift for you."

"I can see that, but why?" His features turned hard and he went to put the gift back into his pocket. "No, wait. Give it to me."

He placed the box in her hands. Hermione opened the box and just stared at the metallic strip with rubies at the end in little floral designs. It looked like a hair barrette, except it didn't have the part where to put it in your hair. Instead, it was a longish, flat strip of metal. "It's a book mark. I know it's a little fancy, but trust me when I say that the others were just a piece of paper connected to a tassel."

She couldn't help herself when she threw her arms around him and pulled him into a crushing hug. He stood there awkwardly, not knowing if he should hug her back or not. Hermione pulled away before he could decide what to do. "Sorry, I shouldn't have done that. Thank you for the gift, it means a lot. It's beautiful."

"I saw it and thought you might like it." He said, still standing there awkwardly.

"I kind of feel bad about my gift. I got it even though I thought you might hate it." Hermione felt a little bit embarrassing.

"You shouldn't. I think your gift was really interesting. Muggles make good music." She knew it must have pained him just a little bit to say that.

"This is weird."

"Tell me about it." He laughed a little. Hermione looked back down at the gift in her hand. She really did love it.

"A mitoe!" They both stared down at Teddy, who was pointing up at the mistletoe they were standing under.

Draco looked up and his cheeks became a light pink. Hermione already knew what was up there and was about to turn back to Teddy, when Draco pulled her closer. "I have to kiss you."

"You know, you don't always have to listen to silly traditions."

"Oh, Granger, don't be daft. I want to kiss you." Before she could say anything back, he pressed his lips against hers. She sighed contently as he tried to deepen the kiss.

"Well, I guess you really are trying to get over it and be civil." Hermione pulled away, blushing. Harry stood there, smirking while Ron stood there looking as if he wanted to kill Draco.

"Yeah, I suppose it is." Draco couldn't help but smile.

* * *

><p><em>20 Years Later <em>

Draco was shoved off the bed. He would have been upset, if it hadn't been the person who shoved him off the bed. His son, Scorpius, had been experiencing magic already and it usually resulted in Draco being shoved off the bed.

When he got up off the floor, he saw his wife giving him a look that he was pretty sure was sympathy. "You're the worst."

"Me? I'm the best. I'm pretty sure it's one of the reasons you married me." Hermione got up slowly, trying her best not to wake up their son.

Draco walked to her and put his hands around her waist. "Well, that is definitely one of the reasons. Teddy is coming by in a few hours to take Scorp to buy last minute gifts for tonight."

"So does that mean we'll have alone time?" Hermione winked or tried to.

"I wish. No, actually, people are coming over to start setting up for the party. It really is such a shame that Andromeda is making us host the party this year."

"Don't be mean." But Hermione smiled anyway.

"Hey, you married me. You've got to live with me no matter what." Draco pecked her lips. "So, I want you to open my gift right now."

He pulled away, reached into their drawer and pulled out a little box. Hermione took it from his hand. "You're sure you want me to open this now?"

"I wouldn't have given it to you, Hermione, if I didn't want you to open it." She raised an eyebrow, but he just shrugged. Hermione opened the box and noticed the familiar floral ruby designed.

"My bookmark." Draco nodded. "I thought I'd lost this when Scorpius was born."

"Well, I found it the other week when I was looking for those parenting books for the Potters. I sent it to a jeweler for a few minor touch ups." He pulled out the bookmark and twisted around, revealing three engraved dates.

10.25.01 "The day I finally got the nerve to make a move. As you now know, I had liked you for a while. Was quite terrified you'd reject me and curse me into the New Year. "

10.25.09 "The day you finally married me. I know you said six years wasn't enough time to know that you really wanted to build a life with me, which was such a lie. Then another year of being engaged; I think I nearly died. But, it finally did happen and it was the second best day of my life."

7.15.15 "The actual best day of my life was the day our son was born. I will never stop being thankful for you, Hermione Granger. I mean, I might dislike the fact that you don't use my last name, but I love you. I love you, a lot."

"I love you, Draco Malfoy." And she did. She never would have thought that her life would turn out like this. She didn't think that she'd end up giving birth to the Malfoy heir and sharing the most amazing moments of her life with Draco when she went out and bought him a few CDs. "I want you to open your gift, too."

She went to her closet and when she came back, she had a nice silver box in her hand. Draco took the box from her and opened it.

Inside the box was a watch that was charmed so the band would change colors when he was feeling a certain way. "I know it seems impersonal, but I swear it isn't. I wanted to get you a watch when I first went shopping for your gift. I thought it'd be nice to finally be able to do that. I also charmed the band to change colors to how you're feeling because it reminded me of how you and Teddy became close and how he'd change his hair color to match yours whenever you were around."

"That's… that's just amazing. I love it." He hadn't realized he was crying. Well, he wouldn't say he was crying, but a few tears did leave his eyes.

"I'm glad you do. There's one more thing that it does, love. The clock will only run as long as Scorp and I love you." She cupped his face and gently pulled him down for a kiss. "That clock will literally run forever."

He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. Their lips connected and Hermione couldn't help but feel absolute bliss. The kiss wasn't heavily romantic, but short and sweet.

They stood there for a few more minutes before waking Scorpius up and getting on with their day. Christmas surely had become her favorite holiday.

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><p>an: I know this is pretty bad, but it's my first time writing one-shots, so be nice please. It's a Christmas fluffy fic, no angst because it's Christmas and it shouldn't be angsty. Please review and favorite, it'd mean a lot. I'm thinking of writing another, maybe they'll be better ahaha


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